She expected bitter or sour, but instead the taste was summer and dreams and joy. A surge of warmth and energy ran through her, electric and fizzy. It filled her like champagne bubbles and instantly soothed her skin.
The feeling ebbed slowly, leaving behind a happy glow. Mal looked down at the little thimble, noticing that her skin had never looked so good. No sign of the mottling or the white bumps remained.
She looked up at LeeAnne. “That stuff is amazing. What is it?”
“Expensive and rare,” the housekeeper said wryly as she resealed the bottle. “But quite handy, on occasion.”
“Thank you.”
LeeAnne’s brows rose in surprise.
Mal wanted to stick her tongue out. Shehadmanners, even if she didn’t always use them.
“You’re welcome. I needed Law focused, and he wouldn’t be if you were incapacitated.”
Otherwise Mal would’ve had to suffer through. Message received, loud and clear.
“I understand.”
LeeAnne smiled. “Good. Now, I have to repair the damage done, assess who, if anyone, will be removed from the premises, and make sure that everyone is on their best behavior from here on out. There will be no repeat of this sort of mayhem, I assure you. In the meantime, I suggest you go clean up. You appear to have something in your hair, and you’re covered in blood. You’d better eat, as well, and hydrate. You’ve lost a lot of blood, and you used a lot of magic. You’ll need the calories, but you know that already.”
The way she said it indicated she didn’t think Mal knew it at all and probably needed someone to bottle-feed her.
LeeAnne was quite wrong. Using magic took a lot out of a person, and Mal’s stomach was already demanding she fill it after expending all that energy on ending the skirmish. But she had one more thing she needed to take care of.
“One more thing. I want to see the bride and groom before the wedding. Alone. Nobody else.”
“Why?”
“I want to get their opinions on who might be out to sabotage the alliance and who has a motive to do so.”
“That will be a long list.”
“One you and Law already seem to have, but since you’re already busy and I’m playing catchup, I want to meet with them and hear it for myself.”
“I’ll arrange it.”
“As soon as you can.”
She nodded. “I’ll text the details.”
Understanding that for the dismissal that it was, Mal rose and headed for the door.
Just before leaving, she looked over her shoulder. “You might talk to the pixies about the glitter bombs. Those are getting to be a royal pain in the ass.”
LeeAnne smiled unpleasantly, her eyes turning a darker purple and starting to glow in a most unnerving way.
“Believe me, the pixies will not be using any more glitter bombs here.Neveragain.”
There was something in the way she said it that set off Mal’s run-like-hell response. She pulled the door shut and fled, feet barely touching the ground. tThe only thought in her brain screamed,Run!
Chapter Ten
LeeAnne arrangedfor Mal to meet Nayena and Coorsel—the diminutive giant groom—in a private room at the coffee bistro in the lobby. She arrived a few minutes after the groom, who had come accompanied by two other small giants, one male, one female.
So much for meeting with the bride and groom privately.
They were already sitting at a round table. The mini giants ranged from a little over three and a half feet tall to just under four and a half feet. The two males looked like miniature linebackers, with bulging biceps, chests like barrels, and thighs like logs. Mal guessed the younger one was Coorsel.
